Chapter 12 Monster Night Raid
Forget it — never mind how rare a Potion Recipe might be; even if she got one, what were the odds it would be the exact type she needed?
Better to just swallow it directly.
Qin Zhen popped the small ice-blue flower straight into her mouth and swallowed.
She felt a cool current surge through her body — just like the day she had learned the Glacial Ring skill.
The cold wave lasted about five seconds before fading away.
Qin Zhen glanced at the number beside Ice Affinity on her game panel. Sure enough, it had risen from 8 to 13.
Although this Attribute wasn't particularly useful to her right now, that didn't mean it would stay useless forever.
So she figured that anything capable of boosting her Attributes was worth having as much of as possible.
Qin Zhen looked left and right, hoping to spot more of the same plant.
But after scanning the area, she couldn't find a single other one.
Qin Zhen let out a sigh, a little disappointed.
[Host, don't go thinking this kind of thing is common. The fact that you found one on the very first day of the official game is already your Luck, okay?]
"Alright..."
After hearing what the System had to say, Qin Zhen stopped dwelling on the Frost Blossom and instead pulled out her Stone Pickaxe to break apart a nearby Stone.
Stone ×5 obtained. EXP +5.
Qin Zhen continued exploring ahead. Along the way she didn't come across any more plants like the Frost Blossom.
But she did manage to collect more than a dozen large Stones.
Stone ×75 obtained. EXP +75.
[Congratulations, Player Qiyezhenzhen has reached Level 5! All Attributes except Luck and Magic Attribute each gain one Attribute Point, and you receive five freely assignable Attribute Points (excluding Luck and Magic Attribute).]
Qin Zhen chose Constitution +1 and Intelligence +4.
Her Attack, Defense, and Speed all had equipment bonuses, so Intelligence was the lowest of her stats by far.
Besides, Qin Zhen already had a skill now — even if it didn't deal much damage, having crowd control was still valuable.
Before this, her MP had only been enough to cast Glacial Ring five times. That was fine against Common Monsters, but Qin Zhen wasn't so confident about higher-tier enemies.
Not to mention she still only had one skill — she mustn't forget that her Light Affinity Skill slot was sitting empty.
Who knew when she might get her hands on a Light Affinity Skill book?
When that day came, her current MP would be stretched even thinner.
So Intelligence was critically important for anyone.
Qin Zhen decided not to venture any deeper.
For one thing, it was already past three o'clock — if she didn't head back soon, she'd be cutting it close again.
For another, the temperature here had already reached the limit her body could endure.
She wasn't sure why, but the deeper she went, the colder it got.
She'd wait until next time, when she had cold-resistant clothing or a stronger Constitution, before exploring further.
By the time she returned to the Shelter it was only four-thirty, yet the sky had already gone completely dark.
Qin Zhen couldn't help but frown. What was going on? Why had night fallen so early today?
Qin Zhen lit a campfire, and once the interior of the Wooden Cabin brightened up, she plopped herself down on the Mattress.
She opened the Chat Channel, and sure enough, the Players were already discussing exactly this.
[Mudiaban: What the heck, why did it get dark so early today?]
[The Golden House Within Books: Right? It used to go dark at five. Why is it already dark at four-thirty?]
[SwallowsFlySouth: I'm still in the forest... oh god, I can see so many pairs of eyes...]
[The Golden House Within Books: Whoa, don't scare us like that — get back to the Shelter now! It's really dangerous outside at night.]
[YouMustBeStarving: Agreed. It's extremely dangerous outside at night.]
At that moment, Qin Zhen suddenly noticed that the message SwallowsFlySouth had just sent was gone.
[Blinds: Oh god, did SwallowsFlySouth's message just disappear?]
[Mudiaban: Yes! It's gone on my end too!]
[The Golden House Within Books: Look at the player count in the bottom right — it just dropped by one. Does that mean he's dead?]
[Xiaomihu: So the System wasn't lying to us. People really can die here...]
[...]
Even though everyone had heard the System say from the start that death was possible, they hadn't actually witnessed it until now.
Seeing a Player die right before their eyes was something else entirely — everyone fell silent, their hearts gripped with fear.
And at that moment, the player count in the bottom right corner kept dropping.
In just half an hour, the number had fallen to /.
That meant in the span of half an hour, 1,674 people had already died.
[Chongerfei: Over a thousand people dead...]
[Blinds: That's terrifying... Thank goodness I didn't go out this afternoon, or I might have...]
[Heihuafeihuifa: This stupid game! When is it ever going to end?! I want to go home!]
[Bohenailvü: Same. I miss my grandparents...]
[...]
[JustGoMarryAGuy: I'll say it again — survival of the fittest. Make yourself stronger; that's the only way to survive in this game world. Stop thinking about just getting by day to day.]
Reading those words, Qin Zhen found herself in complete agreement.
Rather than waiting for the System to hand out uncertain supplies every day, it was far better to actively grow stronger.
Keeping her fate in her own hands was the only thing that gave her peace of mind.
Just then, Qin Zhen suddenly heard sounds coming from outside.
She steadied herself and listened carefully.
Thud, thud, thud.
The Wooden Cabin shuddered.
Something was attacking her Shelter?
Fortunately, though the Wooden Cabin kept shaking under the assault, there were no signs of it breaking apart.
Qin Zhen recalled that the Wooden Cabin's description said it could withstand attacks from Common Monsters.
So whatever was outside must be Common Monsters.
She just didn't know how many there were.
Qin Zhen had assumed the monsters would give up once they realized they couldn't break in, so she ignored them at first.
But to her surprise, half an hour passed and they were still out there, banging and clattering without stop.
Qin Zhen: "..."
She was genuinely annoyed.
Qin Zhen summoned her Starlight Staff, took the Lianyue Crossbow in her other hand, and quietly crept to the door before pulling it open.
Then she immediately put distance between herself and the doorway.
The monsters quickly noticed the door was open.
A wolf, pitch-black from head to tail, appeared in the doorway.
[Phantom Demon Wolf — Common Monster — Attack Power: 30; Defense: 30; HP: 100.]
Qin Zhen swung her Starlight Staff and cast Glacial Ring, freezing the black wolf in place and blocking the monsters behind it from entering.
The Lianyue Crossbow fired two bolts in quick succession, and the black wolf collapsed to the ground.
The silhouette of the next monster appeared in the doorway — another black wolf.
Qin Zhen repeated the same strategy, firing eight bolts in total and killing the four wolves that followed.
Five Common Monsters had come for her in a single night!
Qin Zhen felt a chill run through her. Without a powerful weapon at hand, very few people would have been able to hold off an assault of this scale.